Networking is perhaps one of the most recurring motivations to participate in hackathons [1]}, [2]}, [3]}. Some participants mentioned that networking only existed within their teams and between the team and their mentors. Since many teams were formed before the event, networking with new peers was minimal. To try to network, participants would have to join busy text channels during the event and keep track of dozens of messages sent by strange avatars. Given the project tasks and parallel activities, this would require non-trivial effort from team members.
We believe this was one of the most compromised aspects of a traditional hackathon when moving to an online setting. By not overhearing and interacting with other teams, participants of online hackathons were less exposed to new problems, ideas, or even colleagues. The serendipitous learning from overheard conversations [4]} of participants in the same physical space no longer exist, since in the online model, each team works in isolation from other teams. Although among our interviewees one team mentioned collaborating with another team in the hackathon, the intrinsic format of an online hackathon does not favor inter-team collaboration. Unfortunately, the competitive scenario might add to turning hackathons less welcoming to newcomers or less experienced participants.
